ABSTRACT
While one would think that gyms are safe and supervised spaces to train/exercise, that is not often the case, as our participants’ stories revealed. In this chapter, we examine the insidious, invisible presence of dangers/risks in gyms. Our participants’ stories and our observations specifically address four types of dangers/risks. First, physical injuries frequently happen to new and more experienced gym goers. Driven by their enthusiasm to try new moves, to use heavier dumbbells, and/or to do more reps than suggested, without following trainers’/instructors’ advice to be cautious, several of our informants ended up injuring their backs, calves, knees, hips, ligaments in general, and shoulders. Second, overdoing exercise/training could cause damage to one’s body, health, and mind. Some of our participants have performed cardiovascular practices in excess, for example, thus countering their beneficial effects. Third, there are more (in)visible risks at gyms involving unwanted scrutiny from other gym members, which could end up in sexual harassment most often against women, as is often the case, and other similar issues. Some of our participants’ stories unveiled such dangerous situations that created fear and mistrust for the victims. Fourth, new dangers emerged with the COVID-19 pandemic that forced gym members to change their healthy habits and to train/exercise from home without their trainer’s/instructor’s in-person supervision. Overdoing exercise or not moving at all, and a lot of in-between situations, surfaced during the pandemic.
